Philip Kim of Toronto, Ontario has won the Olympic gold medal in the men’s breaking (also known as break dancing) at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on Saturday. Also known as Phil Wizard, the Canadian won the very first gold medal in men’s breakdancing at the Olympic Games. Kim will be known as the only male Olympic break dancing gold medalist for the foreseeable future. That is because breakdancing is not part of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Kim finished in first place in Group B as he won five of a possible six rounds. He defeated Danis Civil of France (also known as Dany Dann) two rounds to none, and won 13 of a possible 18 votes in the opening match. Kim then beat Oleh Kuznetsov of Ukraine (also known as Kuzya) 10-8 on total votes after winning one round each. Kim then closed out Group B with a dominant win over Jeff Dunne of Australia (also known as J-Attack). Kim won both rounds over Dunne and won 17 of 18 votes by the judges.
In the knockout stage, Kim won all nine of his rounds. He beat Lee-Lou Demierre of the Netherlands (also known as Lee) 19-8 in the quarterfinals, Shigeyuki Nakarai of Japan (also known as Shigekix) 17-1o in the semifinals, and Dann 23-4 in the gold medal game. Victor Montalvo of the United States won the bronze medal.
Canada now has won 27 medals at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. They have nine gold medals, seven silver medals, and 11 bronze medals, and are in 11th place overall.
